Baldwin County school cancels ‘wax museum’ project that included controversial historical figures, including Hitler

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A fifth grade teacher at Blandy Hills Elementary School has canceled a “living wax museum” project after students were given the option of dressing as historical figures, one of which was Adolf Hitler.

The project required the fifth-graders to select and research a “famous” person from a list, dress up as him/her and present to younger students. The list included names like Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin and multiple Confederate leaders – all of which are part of the fifth grade curriculum.

Baldwin County Superintendent, Dr. Noris Price, released a statement saying, “While these historical lessons are aligned with the Georgia Standards of Excellence, the teacher’s requirements for this project were not appropriate and lacked sensitivity.”

Price admits in the statement that the fifth grade curriculum has lessons of people with a “profound negative impact on world history.”

A parent whose child is in the fifth grade class told 41NBC more than one parent was concerned about the project and how the children were required to dress up and present to younger students.

The statement from Dr. Price goes on to read, “The teacher has cancelled the project and is working on developing a different project for the students that does a better job of taking into account the age of the students, the diverse needs of the class and the overall goals and purpose of the topics covered.”[huge_it_gallery id=”6”]

The “living wax museum” project was meant to sum up the year of Social Studies.

It is unclear what the alternate assignment will be.